Vida Nova, White, 2011, Algarve, Portugal

Algarve, southern part of continental Portugal, famous for its spectacular beaches and golf resorts, has an almost unknown wine production of its own. It is small even for Portuguese standards and you won't normally find Algarve wines out of there. If you do, or even better so, if you spend some holidays there, Vida Nova, white, 2011, is a good introduction to Algarve's good wines. I just love the brand, Vida Nova, meaning New Life. And the teaser behind it: once upon a time, pop singer Cliff Richards fell in love with the Algarve, bought some land there, and started producing wine, getting himself a new life... On Vida Nova's bottle dress Cliff Richards and his wine producer friends claim to "champion the rebirth of Algarve wine", and I thank them for that. This particular wine, a mix of Verdelho and Viognier grapes, seems to me a perfect match to Douradas, Robalos, Linguados and all the rest of Algarve's great grilled fresh fish. I don't know him personally, but since I got his autograph printed on the bottle cork, I feel like I must say: go Cliff, go! Luis Miguel Novais